The present Invention relates to a new and distinct cultivar of Poinsettia plant, botanically known as Euphorbia pulcherrima Willd., and hereinafter referred to by the name xe2x80x98Eckayanaxe2x80x99.
The new Poinsettia a product of a planned breeding program conducted by the Inventor in Encinitas, Calif. The objective of the breeding program is to create new Poinsettia cultivars having flower bracts with desirable colors, uniform plant habit and excellent post-production longevity.
The new Poinsettia is a naturally-occurring whole plant mutation of the Poinsettia cultivar Eckadria, disclosed in an U.S. Plant Patent application filed concurrently. The new Poinsettia was discovered and selected by the Inventor as a single flowering plant within a population of plants of the parent cultivar in a controlled environment in Encinitas, Calif., in December, 1999. The selection of this plant was based on its attractive flower bract colors and good plant form and substance.
Asexual reproduction of the new Poinsettia by terminal cuttings taken at Encinitas, Calif., since 2000, has shown that the unique features of this new Poinsettia are stable and reproduced true to type in successive generations of asexual reproduction.
The following traits have been repeatedly observed and are determined to be the unique characteristics of xe2x80x98Eckayanaxe2x80x99. Thses characteristics in combination distinguish xe2x80x98Eckayanaxe2x80x99 as a new and distinct cultivar:
1. Inflorescences with recurved dark red and dark pink bi-colored flower bracts.
2. Dark green-colored recurved leaves with green-colored petioles.
3. Uniform and upright plant habit.
4. Early flowering, natural season flower maturity date is November 23 for plants grown in Encinitas, Calif.; response time, about 8 weeks.
5. Excellent post-production longevity.
Plants of the new Poinsettia differ primarily from plants of the mutation parent, the cultivar Eckadria, in inflorescence form as flower bracts of plants of the cultivar Eckadria are flat and not recurved. In addition, plant of the new Poinsettia have recurved leaves whereas plants of the cultivar Eckadria have flat, not recurved, leaves.
Plants of the new Poinsettia can be compared to plants of the Poinsettia cultivar Windark, disclosed in U.S. Plant patent application Ser. No. 09/087,917. In side-by-side comparisons conducted in Encinitas, Calif., plants of the new Poinsettia differed from plants of the cultivar Windark in the following characteristics:
1. Plants of the new Poinsettia have slightly larger leaves with shorter petioles than plants of the cultivar Windark. In addition, plants of the new Poinsettia have green-colored leaf petioles whereas plants of the cultivar Windark have burgundy-colored petioles.
2. Plants of the new Poinsettia have fewer flower bracts per inflorescence than plants of the cultivar Windark.
3. Plants of the new Poinsettia have dark red and pink bi-colored flower bracts whereas plants of the cultivar Windark have red-colored flower bracts.
4. Plants of the new Poinsettia flower earlier than plants of the cultivar Windark.